History
The Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917 unquestionably changed the fabric of Russian political and social life, transforming Russia from an autocratic imperial power to the first self-proclaimed socialist federation in Europe; students…
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University of Iowa
University of Iowa's course descriptions average 66.6 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so University of Iowa reads 0.9 points further right.
Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)
Where its courses fall
3%Far left92–100
38%Left75–91
44%Center-left59–74
6%Center42–58
0%Center-right26–41
4%Right9–25
5%Far right0–8
Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes. A course on slavery or the Holocaust lands far right and a course on Marx or the Soviet Union lands far left, whether the course praises, criticizes or simply describes it.
Underlined: words the model quoted from the description when we asked it, after scoring, to explain its score.
Furthest-left subjects
History
Sample the historiography of slavery, abolition, and emancipation in the Western Hemisphere. Focus on the movements to abolish Black chattel slavery in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century United States; engage related histories throughout the Atlantic world.
Political Science
Political dynamics in postcommunist countries of east-central Europe and Eurasia; imperial legacies, ideology and practice of communist politics, patterns of democracy and authoritarianism. GE: International and Global Issues; Social Sciences.
Furthest-right subjects
Ethnic & African American Studies
Beginning, expansion, and ending of American slavery; how our national memory of slavery in popular culture (in high school history, in historical landmarks and museums) helps or hinders our understanding of history of slavery in the U.S. Same as HIST:3275.
Ethnic & African American Studies
Our approach to study of slavery and discipline of history have been upended by recent works by and about women; exploration of that scholarship and consideration of where it takes us in grappling with systems and subjectivity of slavery. Same as GWSS:7205, HIST:7205.
Anthropology
Exploration of various slave systems in antiquity, the middle ages, and modernity in terms of their motivations, utilization, and broader social, economic, and political implications; use of literary sources and archaeological remains to…
Why this number, in plain words
Political lean of course descriptions. Average Framing score (0 = far right, 50 = center, 100 = far left) of the scored courses in the group.
50 is the survey-anchored center of US adults on each issue (the "moderate" place of the ANES/GSS/PRRI seven-label ruler), not the cohort midpoint; scores above 50 read leftward, below 50 rightward.
Counted: courses with a Framing score (categories L/R/B/C). The likely range (95% interval) is 65.0 to 68.2; a comparison whose range overlaps this one is not a reliable difference.
- Most course descriptions carry no political lean at all and are not in this average; the "share described from the left" view counts them.
- Readings are of catalog description text, not of teaching, syllabi or individual professors.
University of Iowa by department (share of courses described from the left)
| Department | Left-framed share | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnic & African American Studies | 21.3% | 75 | view |
| Women's & Gender Studies | 18.8% | 48 | view |
| Anthropology | 8.8% | 80 | view |
| Sociology | 4.1% | 74 | view |
| History | 3.6% | 139 | view |
| Religious Studies | 2.9% | 68 | view |
| Political Science | 2% | 100 | view |
| Philosophy | 1.5% | 68 | view |
| English & Comparative Literature | 1.4% | 138 | view |
| Psychology | 1.1% | 89 | view |
| Art & Art History | 0% | 187 | view |
| Economics | 0% | 60 | view |
Lean (mean Framing score) is not published per department within a school; only the left-framed share is. Department rows carry no interval.
Details: exact rows, definitions and method
| Name | Metric | Value | 95% interval | n | scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Iowa | mean_bias_score | 66.6 | 65.0 – 68.2 | 1,126 | 48 |
| All 100 schools | mean_bias_score | 67.5 | 67.4 – 67.7 | 124,290 | 10,124 |
- Formula
- SUM(bias_score) / COUNT(bias_score)
- Interval
- normal approximation: mean +/- 1.96 * sd / sqrt(n), sample sd (n-1); undefined when n < 2
- Model / prompt / snapshot
- gpt-5.6-sol · r12 (2026-10-16-le49-r12) · 6df50b10
- Metric caveats
- Scored courses only (L/R/B/C); N and I carry no score and are excluded, so n here is smaller than the group's course count. Scores are model readings of catalog description text against a fixed anchored definition, not teaching or syllabi. The interval covers sampling noise in the mean only; it does not represent model reading error. Every value carries a `method` label: exact_rows or histogram_midpoint.
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